A strange encounter
by neenofhyrule
Summary: Gokudera was minding his own business after a long day at school, when suddenly someone familiar bumps into him.


It had been a long day. Yamamoto had invited Gokudera and Tsuna to his dad's sushi restaurant after school to hang out. At first, Gokudera thought it was a stupid idea. Hanging out in a sushi restaurant, that's about as boring as it could get. But when the tenth had said he thought it would be fun, well, how could Gokudera say no?

The bell rang, class was over. Gokudera packed up his books, swung his bag over his shoulder, and began the not so long journey to the sushi restaurant. On his way over, he saw a small cat on the side of the road, searching through the garbage cans and sniffing around, probably for food. Clearly it was a stray, it being rather filthy looking and thin, Gokudera thought. He watched it for a moment and took another step before the small cat looked up at him and tried to hide between the trash can and a wall nearby. At first, the dirty little thing was frightened, pulling back a little and keeping a close eye on him. After the cat realized Gokudera meant no harm to him, his ears perked up and he meowed quietly. Gokudera would never let anyone know this, but he actually has a very soft spot in his heart for kitties, and that meow tugged at his heart strings just enough to encourage Gokudera to help the little guy out a bit. He pulled out a bit of noodles he had saved from lunch and set it down a few feet away from it, hoping maybe the stray would take interest in it.

The small cat slowly prowled over to the noodles and sniffed it carefully before scarfing some of it down. Gokudera smiled, deciding to sit there while it ate to make sure no bigger animals came around to take the food from the poor kitty. Suddenly, he heard an all too familiar, yet annoying voice from behind. As he turned to see what the fuss was about, a young girl named Haru Miura appeared before him, ramming into him and sending them both rolling.

What just happened? Gokudera found himself holding his head with one hand, while the other was around this strange girl on top of him. He opened his eyes and looked at her, just seeing her face irked him. "Wh-What are you doing?! Watch where you're going!" he said as he pushed her off, turning his head to prevent her from seeing the slight blush on his face. "Gokudera-kun! What are you doing here?"

"Tch.. I was on my way to see the Tenth and the baseball idiot. I stopped for-" He paused, he did NOT want her of all people to know that he had such a soft spot for kitties. Gokudera looked back to the small kitty to see that it had finished it's meal and ran off already. He sighed. ".. I stopped to tie my shoe, then all of a sudden you trip over me, you dumb broad."

"S-sorry Gokudera-kun.." Her voice was different than usual. Not as perky or annoying. When he looked at her, she was looking down at her hands, hunched over, and fiddling with a rather frilly pink handkerchief.

He swore he saw a tear roll down her cheek, too.

"W-WELL I guess I can forgive you THIS time.. Are you alright?..."

She glanced up at him and quickly dried her damp face with the handkerchief she had been fidgeting with moments ago. "I-I'm fine.." Her voice was so quiet and calm, normally Gokudera would have been happy to hear her talk this way, but she seemed so distressed that it bothered him. What should he do?

Gokudera picked up some of the things she had dropped, mostly the books and her phone because he didn't want those things to get ruined, and stood up confidently. "Obviously you're not," he said as he offered her a hand to help her up. "...So what's wrong?" Gokudera had no idea what had come over him. Why did he feel the need to be so nice?

Haru was surprised by his change in behavior as well. She hesitated at first, but took his hand, letting him help her up. He handed her the things he had picked up, waiting for her response. "Um.. Well.. Haru was getting ready to visit with Kyoko-chan, when I noticed my pants felt a bit tighter than usual," He stood there wondering if this was really going where he thought it was going. She glanced up at him but then looked back to the ground."...But I just ignored it and went out to go meet with Kyoko-chan. But then when I was walking along the sidewalk I passed a group of boys walking by, and I overheard them talking about how chubby I look, then I realized I've gained weight, and I feel really horrible now because I'm fat!" She sighed heavily and covered her face out of embarrassment. "Haru can't believe she just told you all that.."

Gokudera was unsure of how to respond to that. She thought she was fat. That's why she was so upset? "BAH! That's a stupid reason to be so worked up. You don't look fat at all. If it would help you feel better, I'll go beat them up! I mean, so what if you gained a little weight? I think you still look quite beautifu-" He stopped and clamped his mouth shut. Did he actually just say that out loud? "Uh.. I mean... Ermm..." Crap, he couldn't take it back, that might hurt her feelings even more. Gokudera simply put his hand over his face, trying to contain the sudden warmth he felt radiating off of his cheeks.

Haru looked up at him, unsure of what just happened. Gokudera was standing there, mumbling and blushing, trying to find a way he could take that back without being too insulting. She had to admit, it was kind of cute. She couldn't help but smile at his embarrassment, and giggle a little when he noticed she was enjoying his pain and turned an even deeper shade of red.

"You really think Haru is beautiful?" she said with a little smile on her face, stepping a little closer to him, her eyes glued to his, patiently awaiting his response.

Gokudera seemed a little uneasy at this point, putting his hands up in defense. "I-It's not like you've grown on me or anything, I've just learned to deal with you since you hang around the Tenth so much." He crossed his arms in protest. Yeah, he did think Haru was beautiful. There's no way in HELL he'd admit that to her face, though.

She smiled again, a bit wider this time. "Does Gokudera-kun like Haru?" Again, she stepped closer to him, the smile on her face showing no signs of leaving any time soon. He stepped back in response, hitting the wall behind him on accident. He was trapped between a pretty girl and a wall, and there was no escape. "No! Of course not. What a stupid thing to accuse me of." He turned his head away to add emphasis to the irritated look on his flushed face, but it did no good. Before he knew it, she had brought her hand to his face and turned his head just enough so she could give him a small, quick peck on the lips. Their faces both turned bright red at the same time, almost as if it was planned.

Gokudera stared at Haru in shock while she stared back at him with a blank, yet eager look on her face. The silence was broken when the alarm she had set on her phone to remind her that she was meeting with Kyoko went off. "Kyoko-chan! Haru almost forgot!" She turned away and took a step, but then paused and turned back to Gokudera. She smiled and blushed again. "Don't worry, Gokudera-kun. Haru won't tell anyone!" Before he could respond, she darted off down the street, disappearing around the corner.

Gokudera stood there for a moment, still flustered from that kiss. He brought his hand up to his face and lightly pressed his fingers against his lips, remembering for a moment how soft her lips were. His thoughts were disturbed by a kitten rubbing against his leg, the same kitten he had been feeding before Haru showed up. Suddenly he remembered where he was supposed to be right now. "Ah! Tenth!" Gokudera quickly picked up his things and started running down the road, towards the sushi restaurant. There's no way the Tenth and that baseball idiot could ever find out about the encounter he just had with her. Still, he couldn't help but think about how he'd really like to do that again sometime.


End file.
